Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Common Blue Cohosh from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Caulophyllum thalictroides is the more common and widely known blue cohosh, but there is a second species that has gone largely undetected. Read more in Identification of Caulophyllum giganteum (Haines, 2003).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Caulophyllum thalictroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH Identification of Caulophyllum giganteum (Haines, 2003)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 077-05-001:
Caulophyllum thalictroides FAMILY Berberidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
COMMON NAME:
Common Blue Cohosh, Papooseroot, Green Vivian
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0503c_20
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm0503c_25
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm120330_226
March Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
All parts of the plant have a whitish cast, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm140322_363
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm200321_3270
March Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_thalictroides_b
March
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_442
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
The oval leaflets are irregularly lobed above the middle, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7873
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7881
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7884
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7886
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_thalictroides_0849
April Polk County NC
The six petal-like sepals are yellow-green to purple-green, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_thalictroides_0922
April Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_thalictroides_61
April
True petals are the small yellowish glands at the base of petaloid sepals, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm060508_087
May Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
Black Cohosh on the left; Blue Cohosh on the right.
)
JK Marlow jkm120523_195
May Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
1 large ternately decompound leaf above inflorescence, 1(2) smaller below, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_089
July Raleigh County WV
Sandstone Falls
The specific epithet "thalictroides" means resembling Thalictrum.
COMPARE
leaves that resemble Thalictrum
)
JK Marlow jkm060806_022
August Polk County NC
Fruits are dark blue, poisonous, and berry-like, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Caulophyllum thalictroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Identification of Caulophyllum giganteum (Haines, 2003)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 077-05-001:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
291
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Rich forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Complexly compound, with 2+ levels of pinnate and/or ternate compoundness
FLOWER:
Spring
Yellow, yellow-purple, or green
Radially symmetrical
3-merous
6 petaloid sepals
6 reduced petals
6 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer
Blue
Drupe-like seeds
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p114
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p052
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p128
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p459
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p017
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p081
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p127
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p044
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p066
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p345
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p052
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".
Or try alternate spellings: If "wooly" doesn't work, try "woolly" or just "wool".